Fishing in the River Styx
by Mizuni-sama
Summary: It's a Shinigami's job to kill hollows and send ghosts to Soul Society. A recently deceased Naruto has some objections.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I don't own Bleach, and I'm not making any money off of this (no matter how hard I try.)

Chapter 1:

Of all the manners in which Sasuke imagined his return to Konoha, this wasn't one of them. There had been occasions when he considered returning to his home village voluntarily, especially just after he had destroyed Orochimaru and again after killing Itachi, when the slaying of Konoha's most dangerous enemies would still be fresh in everyone's minds and his past misdeeds would appear minuscule in proportion. In those imaginings, he would walk through the front gates, alone or with team seven or some other familiar acquaintances, or he would sneak in sometime in the night to visit first Sakura, the least likely to give him away, and then Naruto who...

Perhaps he _had _imagined returning to Konoha like this, in the dead of night to visit Naruto. He had just always assumed he'd visit him at his _apartment._ And certainly not with flowers.

It was a nice spot, though. The very top of the hill, one over from where the Hokages were buried, and you could see the entire village bellow, and the sea of green beyond that. The idiot had his very own monument, a black three-sided triangular column, and sapling had been planted just behind it. In the spring, the little tree would bloom, sakura blossoms raining down like pink snow. In the meantime, a blanket of flowers surrounded the dark obelisk. It wasn't like the Yondaime's grave. None of the flowers here were white or similar in any way. Goldenrods, tiger lilies, gladioluses, bleeding hearts, tulips, carnations, roses, sunflowers, and so many others all in brilliant colors. Not bad for the class clown.

Sasuke smiled a little, setting his own yellow rose amongst them. Surely, Naruto would have liked this so much better than the traditional pile of white lilies. This was so much more _Naruto_, and it spoke volumes about those that had known, respected, and even loved him. If Ino were here, she could probably tell him who had brought each flower and how it represented what they had thought of him. But Ino wasn't here, and he didn't know what his own flower meant. But he had wanted it to be a rose, and since there were no orange roses...

"This is so stupid," he muttered, "You weren't suppose to end up here. You and your goddamn impossible dream... You weren't done yet. You shouldn't have gone before me. God damn you!"

Angrily, he tore off his straw hat, followed by his cloak, then his weapon's pouch, and leather breastplate he had taken to wearing. He threw them all away, leaving himself bare in only his loose fighting clothes and shoes, hair flying wildly. His forehead protector had been lost years ago, and only Naruto ever knew what happened to it. There was symbolism in that, Sasuke was certain.

As bare and vulnerable as he had ever been, he sank cross-legged to the ground, crossed his arms and glared. In his frustration, he was tempted to retrieve a shuriken and slash the living hell out of Naruto's grave marker, but he had already scarred his former teammate in life and didn't need to scar his memory as well. So he sat there and fumed, letting his Sharingan flare to life and spin about pointless, feeling the now familiar ache and the blurring in the corners of his vision.

Naruto would have laughed at him or screamed at him.

_"You're not the Sasuke I know!"_

Who ever that Sasuke had been.

He closed his eyes, felt the Sharingan's spin slow and recede, until there was only darkness and a faint, but familiar chakra thrumbing against the back of his eye lids.

"Have you been here this entire time, Kakashi?"

The chakra flared a bit, and then the older man was standing beside him. He was just as Sasuke remembered him, the same gear, the same posture, the same heart broken look he had seen every once in a while.

"I figured you'd show up here one of these days. And if not, well..."

"It is a nice spot, isn't it?" Sasuke said without an ounce of sarcasm.

"Naruto wanted to get married up here."

Sasuke turned to the man, actually surprised. He supposed he shouldn't be, but the idea of Naruto being a responsible family man just wasn't clicking. Kakashi's eyes folded into happy crescents.

"Not yet, of course. We came training up here once, and afterwards he said, 'This is a great spot. You can see everything from here. I can see the hospital I was born in. I can see the ninja academy. I can see Hokage tower. I can see where I'm going to be buried. If I get the chance, I think I'll get married up here. It's great.' But since he didn't get married..."

"Ah."

The silence that followed was Sasuke's courtesy to Kakashi, who needed the time to regain control over himself. When he spoke again, his voice was decidedly cool.

"You picked a funny time to visit, Sasuke."

"I'm not visiting. I have nowhere else to go. Mangekyou's evolution has already drained my chakra reserves dry. I came home to die."

"This isn't your home anymore," Kakashi snapped, "You've made that clear to everyone."

"I'm not asking for your forgiveness."

There was a pause, as they both stared pointedly at the name carved into the marker.

_Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha's most surprising ninja._

"Are you asking for his?"

Sasuke said nothing, closing his eyes again, thinking instead of Naruto sitting in front of him, arms crossed and glaring as he waited for his apology. _Yeah, keep waiting, dobe._

"Because, I think he would have given it to you."

There was a faint _snick_, and Kakashi's calloused hand was in his hair, shoving his head forward.

"But Konoha can not."

And everything went dark.

"You're such a selfish bastard, teme. If you wanted to die, you should have just done it yourself."

Sasuke opened his eyes to meet them staring back at him in a dead glaze. He jerked up on his hands and knees, scuttling away. As the scope of his vision expanded, his sudden fright was replaced with horror. Before him lay his own body, fallen forward on the grass, blood seeping out of his neck, and his partially opened eyes staring out at nothing. Beside his body stood Kakashi, bloody shuriken in hand, staring down at him regretfully and then at Naruto's grave.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I would rather not have done this in front of you," he said, his voice brittle.

"Bastard, as if everyone wasn't upset enough as it was, you go and make _Kakashi_ kill you. Why don't you just make Sakura dig your grave while you're at it?!"

Sasuke turned his head again, looking further down the hill.

"N-Naruto?"

"Sa-Sa-Sasuke?" Naruto mocked harshly, glowering at him. "Nice to know you haven't forgotten me. A letter or something _before_ I died, might have been nice though."

He turned back to Kakashi quickly, but the other seemed oblivious as he gathered up Sasuke's traveling cloak and wrapped his body in it. Turning back to Naruto, who was sitting much like he had been picturing him, arms and legs crossed as he glared at Sasuke. This Naruto was a bit older than his imagination had made him. In his mind, Naruto was still in his teens, still sporting a bit of baby fat and that hideous orange outfit. This Naruto was in his mid twenties, dressed in black shinobi gear with only a little bit of orange to accent it, and his forehead protector a little more dented than he remembered it.

He turned back to Kakashi's retreating form, wondering what he intended to do to his body. Picking up on his thoughts, Naruto explained, sounding a bit less antagonistic.

"He's taking you to your family grave. We picked it out a while ago. There's been rumors about you being sick for a while now."

The situation was disturbing, Sasuke decided. His sharp mind had already concluded that he was dead, Naruto was dead with him, and Kakashi wasn't. There was no confusion on this matter, just a large amount of disappointment that his mind hadn't dissipated into oblivion.

At least Naruto hadn't ceased to exist completely. The world with Naruto, even dead Naruto, seemed a little less depressing.

"The Council won't object?" he asked, even though he didn't give a shit about the Council or his body really. He just wanted to hear the other boy speak.

The blond snorted.

"I doubt he'll even tell them. If he tells anyone at all, it'd be Tsunade. Konoha's in a really tense time right now. You showing up to kamikaze only makes it worse."

Sasuke had heard rumors about that of course, but hadn't paid much attention until the news of Naruto's death had reached him. It was assassination, and no one doubted it. That the Council was somehow behind it wasn't even disputed. Tsunade's imminent retirement, and Naruto's rise as the next candidate for Hokage at only twenty six had sent the village elders into a maddened frenzy of objections. They could object all they wanted, but the fact of the matter was he had the support of almost all of the Konoaha ninja, particularly the younger generation and Tsunade herself. With Naruto dead on the eve of his coronation, the village was on the verge of a civil war, with neighboring villages just waiting to throw in their lot.

He supposed now _wasn't_ the best time to go kamikaze as Naruto put it, but he was a selfish bastard and he didn't want anyone but a Konoha ninja to take his life. Being buried with his family wasn't a bad thing either.

Having not expected to actually awaken after dying, he was not prepared for a post-mortem conversation, and apparently neither was Naruto because a drawn out silence hung in the air they groped for things to say.

"Sorry you died, dobe," he said.

Naruto scowled. "Congrats on killing your brother," he said, ignoring Sasuke's earlier statement. "Now what the hell are you still doing here. I would have thought you'd have been dragged off to hell by now."

Sasuke smirked, and it felt strange and familiar at the same time. He couldn't remember the last time since his face had been anything but completely neutral.

"Well, what are _you_ doing here? Shouldn't you have been dragged off to be reincarnated as a poodle or something?"

"Yeah, well, believe me, they've tried... are trying, but shit- I got unfinished business. I got croaked and Konoha's gonna end up going to war because of it. I'm not leaving until things get resolved. I'm not leaving my precious people up in the air like that. I gotta-"

What ever it was that Naruto was supposed to do was forgotten as the boy jumped to his feet. Sasuke followed just as quickly, recognizing the signs of approaching danger. A strange feeling suddenly filled the air, like the chakra of a particularly strong opponent, yet different somehow. Naruto's gaze was directed towards the bottom of the hill towards a cluster of trees.

He turned suddenly and made a dash for the other side. Sasuke followed him, but was surprised when couldn't go faster. Naruto paused long enough for him to catch up, then grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him forward.

"Our chakra coils don't work anymore. Those are for _living_ things."

Naruto dragged him into the forest, and they didn't make a sound, but quickly found shelter. With a firm hold on Sasuke's wrist, the blond ninja dragged him _through _a dead tree and found the inside hollow. There they remained, crouching silently, and waited.

It was very dark, and though they were dead, Sasuke could feel warmth radiating from Naruto in the confined space. He wasn't really afraid, because Naruto didn't appear to be afraid. The blond wasn't fleeing, he was making a tactical retreat, accessing the enemy so that they could fight later. Sasuke followed because he had no where else to go.

"Did you feel it? That funny sensation kinda like chakra? It's not really. It's something else. They use it like chakra, but it works differently. I think we could use it too, but every time I try to harness it, they seem to sense it and come after me."

"And who are _they_, dobe?"

"If I'm the dobe, why are you asking me for answers, teme?"

"Feh."

"_Ha!_ For your information they call themselves Shinigami."

"Death gods? You mean reapers?"

"Yep. I think they go around an pick up stray souls that don't immediately go off to hell or heaven or reincarnation or whatever. They showed up an hour after I died and have been bugging me ever since."

"What do they do with the souls they pick up?"

"I dunno. Eat them?"

Sasuke sighed. Trust Naruto to be utterly clueless. Whatever the case, these shinigami were after Naruto and possibly after him now too. By all accounts they should both just leave the area, but he new Naruto wouldn't go and Sasuke was tired of being alone. He'd come back to Konoha so he wouldn't die alone, and wouldn't you know it he hadn't.

So perhaps together they would figure out how to use this chakra-esque power and defeat the Shinigami, save Konoha _somehow_, and then what? Perhaps Naruto's soul would move on to heaven and he'd just wander off to hell, and that was damn unsatisfying.

Better than being eaten he supposed.


	2. Chapter 2

Yes, this is a Bleach/Naruto cross over. Yes, there is a yaoi element, although romance won't be the central theme. I doubt any of the boys will even kiss or say 'I love you', so if the idea interests you, but the yaoi doesn't, go ahead and pretend its not there. The guys are just really good friends. Riiiight.

Chapter 2

"Shit," cursed Ikkaku, looking around pointlessly for their escaping prey, "I hate shinobi."

Beside him, Rukia said nothing, scanning the trees for any sign of movement. Ikkaku had requested her three days ago when his current assignment had escaped him, disappearing into area the ghost was far more familiar with. She wished she could say her superior reaitsu sensing abilities had been of some use, but this one was proving too clever. It wouldn't be long before she shared Ikkaku's opinion of ninja. They really were a pill.

"There's two of them now," she said, "That flare in reaitsu wasn't Uzumaki's. Whether they left together or one chased the other, I can't tell."

"Shit."

Giving up on locating the escapees, she returned to Ikkaku's side and they headed back towards the village. Uzumaki, for all his cleverness, hadn't fled the area. Whether it was because he was bound there or simply desired to be there she wasn't certain, but he'd show up again eventually.

And disappear again.

"Perhaps we should get one of the captains on this," he said, not looking at all pleased with his own suggestion. "Kurosaki-taicho is faster than me. Zaraki-taicho might like the sport too, although that might be more trouble than it's worth."

Rukia shook her head.

"Ichigo won't risk exposure in the human world for anything less than immanent catastrophe, and Zaraki-taicho isn't allowed to fight near human settlements. Soi Fong-taicho or one of her higher ups would be best. Their training is the most similar to a shinobi's."

Ikkaku made a face. Rukia smirked.

"What's the matter? Are you both on the outs again?"

"Shut up! You're hardly one to mock people's relationship difficulties!"

A dark flush of pink crossed the female Shinigmai's cheeks, whether in embarrassment or rage Ikkaku couldn't tell.

"Why you-!"

"OW! Get off!"

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Sasuke and Naruto slept in the hollow tree until morning, curled against each other though neither produced nor needed heat. When the sun rose, the tree became uncomfortably warm and Naruto led Sasuke through the wooden barrier yet again, demonstrating how easy it really was. They walked leisurely through the forest, Sasuke attempting and failing to move up into the trees. He landed on his back, breath he didn't need knocked out of him. Naruto laughed at him.

"What'd I tell ya? You ain't got chakra anymore, teme. We got something else. It's similar, but different enough were the same techniques ain't gonna work. We're just gonna have to play genin for a while."

Sasuke grumbled, feeling very much like a genin, and not a very talented one at that. He followed Naruto, having no where else to go, while the blonde ghost started filling him in on what he had missed over the last five years.

"And Sakura got over you and is engaged to Lee, and how unfair is that? I mean, I'm WAY cooler than Lee. Shikamaru's been dating that blonde chick with the fan from Sand, and you can bet it's '_so troublesome_'. Oh, and you should _see_ Hinata. She can totally kick ass now. Her dad's gonna reinstate her as his heir, even though the rest of the main family is against it."

His cheeks got a bit flushed when he talked about her, and Sasuke couldn't help but noticed he talked more about Hinata than Sakura, whom he hadn't seemed very heartbroken over.

"Oh, and Iruka-sensei was dating a civilian, but they broke up. That lady was _crazy_. She had this weird grudge against Kakashi-sensei, but he was kinda mean to her too. They threw knives at each other, Sasuke! And not those little throwing knives either. I mean like Butcher knives."

Now that was something Sasuke was sorry he had missed. Naruto continued to ramble, highlighting five years worth of drama about everyone he knew and many he didn't, though Naruto's own story remained nothing more than a side note. He remained quiet, barely listening, though his attention was clearly fixed on the story teller.

He hadn't been able to study him very well last night, but in the morning sunlight Naruto looked very similar and very different than he remembered. Some things were constant, like his spiky blonde hair and whiskered scars, while others were completely alien, such as his predominantly black clothes and the sharpness of his blue eyes. The way he was amused at his own jokes and stories was familiar, the way his eyes were constantly scanning for danger was not. Walking beside his old friend, Sasuke couldn't help but feel stunted.

At last they reached their destination, which Sasuke's hadn't been aware that there was one and felt all the more foolish for not realizing their location sooner. The Uchiha compound loomed before them, and he felt a sudden mix of dread and hope.

"Are there any...?"

Naruto gave him a sad look and shook his head.

"There might have been once, but they're all gone now. I think the Shinigami got anyone who was left behind."

The disappointment felt like something physical, making his head and chest hurt. Unconsciously, he pressed his hand to his heart and felt something metallic. He looked down and found what looked like a broken piece of chain sticking out of his chest. Taking it in hand, he tugged it experimentally and felt entire chest ache. He dropped it quickly.

"Yeah, I got one too," Naruto said, pointing to the metal ring that Sasuke had mistaken for a zipper. "Mine's shorter though. I'm not sure what they're for, but it hurts to mess with them."

Sasuke moved his shirt closer and further away from his chest, and found the chain links passed easily through the material though not his body, and peaking down his own shirt reveal the chain firmly attached to his undead flesh. It was an unsettling reminder that he was dead, and didn't have any idea what that meant.

"Come one, teme," the other boy said, walking towards the compound.

More than willing to be distracted, Sasuke followed him around the familiar houses to the very back where the Uchiha graveyard was located. The family plaques and boards were in disrepair, and had been long before Sasuke had left. Too many dead, and not enough living to keeping them clean, and Sasuke hadn't been able to bring himself there since his parent's funeral.

Kakashi was already there. Sasuke stopped a ways away from him in order to determine what he had been doing. His body was gone, but there was small pile of disturbed earth at the older ninja's feet, small enough for Sasuke to realize his body had been cremated, mostly likely via a jutsu. Kakashi was putting the finishing touches on a wooden grave post. His eyes were frighteningly empty. Naruto sat down beside him, close enough that parts of his own insubstantial form passed through his sensei's, and set his chin on Kakashi's shoulder.

Kakashi's hands froze for a moment, life returning to his dark eyes. He looked left and then right, then back at his hands in consideration. Finally, he looked up, squinting against the warm sunlight in his eyes. Naruto moved behind him, wrapping his arms around Kakashi's waist and closing his eyes in concentration.

Watching the embrace, Sasuke felt like a shameful voyeur, peeping in on something far more intimate than sex. Kakashi's expression, though only his one eyes was visible, was so pained and hopeful and _alive_.

He didn't know how long he watched them, but eventually Naruto pulled away and Kakashi seemed to sense the absence. He looked around again, rubbed his shoulder, and then returned to carving out Sasuke's name. His eyes remained more focused this time.

"What did you do?" Sasuke asked, as Naruto started to move off.

The other boy just shrugged.

"Sometimes, only sometimes, I think they can feel me. This is the first time it's worked with Kakashi. I tried it on Baa-chan when she was drunk, but it only upset her more."

The playful disposition Naruto had demonstrated earlier was gone now. His blue eyes found the ground and stayed there, his thoughts drifting off to those who were in pain now and whom he could no longer protect. An entire village he could no longer protect.

Sasuke watched silently as a myriad of expressions flashed and faded across the blond's face. Sadness, anger, frustration, regret. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do just then. A part of him just wanted to walk away, to leave Naruto to sort out his own problems and come back later when he was done. Another part of him wanted to comfort the boy, but he felt as qualified to make Naruto feel better as he did to compose a symphony.

Sasuke had died with his dream completed. His brother was dead, and though he hadn't revived his clan, he had become so disgusted with himself he could not bring himself to desire siring children even as a means to an end. Surely, insanity and obsession would plague his descendants with every manifestation of Sharingan, and the horror of Mangekyou was not a legacy he wished to leave behind. His own mortality had made itself known months ago, and truthfully he had been tired and ready to go.

Naruto though... his suffering was a reflection of his own before he had been able to kill Itachi, and everyone knew how poorly he had been able to manage that. So he just stood there and watched and waited, hoping for some instruction that might make this all better.

His eyes narrowed a bit as Naruto rubbed at the chain on his chest.

The chain suddenly jingled a bit, and the blond doubled over, crying out in pain. At the same moment Sasuke felt something like chakra tingle against his skin. He shivered, feeling the cool pressure. It was eerie and unpleasant. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

"Crap," Naruto groaned, straightening himself out painfully. "I did it again. Come on, we got to go before the Shinigami show up."

Despite his command, it was Sasuke who lead them both away from the grave yard. In this section of Konoha, he knew where best to hide and quickly found shelter in one of the many empty houses. He set a still pained Naruto on a dusty mattress, and checked him over. He wasn't sure what he'd find; heart rate, breathing, and temperature all seemed silly things to check in a dead person but Sasuke could strangely find all three.

"You don't look well, dobe. You even have a fever. How can you be a ghost with a fever?"

Naruto smirked, cocky despite being curled up like an invalid.

"I'm just special I guess."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"What happened? Was that weird sensation caused by that 'chakra-like' thing you were talking about?"

"I dunno. It's never hurt before."

For a long time neither said anything, and finally Sasuke just sighed.

"Take a nap. I'll keep watch."

"Yes, mother."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and left him to his thoughts.

Page Break

"Kakashi-sensei, are you alright?"

Said ninja looked up from his bowl of... something he couldn't remember ordering, to Iruka Umino staring worriedly at him. He blinked once, coming back to himself and mentally cursed himself for his lack of discipline. His one visible eyes folded up in a happy crescent.

"Ah, yes. Just planning my method of attack on this..." he said, pointing to his rather frightening looking meal, "culinary adventure."

Iruka rewarded him with a smile and took a seat across from him. Kakashi couldn't help but notice how tired the other man looked, and wondered how he was coping with it all. The other man had known Naruto longer, if not necessarily better, than Kakashi and their relationship had always been that of siblings. It made Kakashi feel a bit guilty for provoking Mia, Iruka's former girlfriend, into leaving him. The woman had been a horrible match for the man, hadn't liked Naruto, Kakashi, or really_ anyone_ who held Iruka's attention, and was insanely jealous, but at least she would have comforted her 'cuddle bunny'.

He'd have done it himself except the man was straight. He'd have asked for comfort for himself, if it weren't for the very same reason. Sakura was engaged, and she'd punch him just for suggesting it. Mayeb Sai... except he looked too much like Sasuke, and he _really_ didn't think he could cope with that.

"You don't look so good, Kakashi-san," Iruka said.

"How can you tell?" he asked, pointing at his masked faced.

"'Look beneath the underneath'. I'm a ninja too. And it's pretty obvious. Have you been visiting Naruto all night again?"

The elder ninja gave a definite pause, his chopsticks hovering what might have been chicken or a bit of mushroom. He debated for a moment on whether he should just say yes or ...

"I think..." he began, paused, then pulled down his mask on the pretense of taking a bite of... ugh, water chestnut. "Naruto visited me this morning."

Iruka was sudden very still, his gently smiling face a rather unnerving tableau. Kakashi quickly looked back to his meal, wishing he'd said nothing. How could the other man respond to something like that? It was crazy. Possibly insensitive. Definitely a very touchy subject.

"What?"

Kakashi sighed.

"Sorry, I know it sounds like something weird to say, but... it was just this feeling I got."

"... Have you told anyone else about this?"

The copy nin shook his head.

"Don't."

"Hn. I'm not naive. Talking of ghosts isn't going to help with the current situation. It certainly won't endear the hokage to me any."

Iruka nodded, then looked considerate. "So why tell me?"

"Hhmmm... Well, if Naruto were still in Konoha, in whatever form, wouldn't that make you feel just a little bit less sad?"

The chuunin considered, thinking of Naruto, which until this point had brought intense pain and sadness. But thinking of Naruto wondering around the village, invisible, undetectable, but _there_, watching over them, laughing at them, crying with them...

Iruka smiled just a bit, and Kakashi smiled back.

"For bachelor's like us, it's important to take whatever comfort you can get."

"Ha ha ha, that sounds rather dirty coming from a bachelor."

Kakashi laughed along, more from the irony of his friend's statement than anything else.

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End file.
